Bermuda's Football Talent Pool: What the Future Holds...

What’s up everyone!

I hope your week have been great, and to my American followers I hope that you thoroughly enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving with family and friends, and obviously great food! We don’t really acknowledge Thanksgiving as a holiday in Bermuda, but with all the American companies that are set up here, and the Americans who live and work in the country, it is a slower couple days around this time, which is always welcome. Leave it to Bermudians to find a holiday somewhere!

Speaking of Bermuda, that is what this week’s topic will focus on. We’re gonna look at how a small country is building a reputable and sustainable football industry, and setting pretty lofty expectations…

So let’s get started!

Our current football environment…

Football is Bermuda’s most popular and most followed sport. Point blank. Every parent clamors to get their child signed up for one of the many youth teams on the island every season, with those youth teams being associated with their parent First Division or Premier Division club (as per usual with leagues and clubs around the world). There is currently no professional football league in Bermuda, with both the Premier and First Divisions comprising of amateur status players and clubs, with relegation and promotion occurring between the two leagues, as per usual. There are also U23 and Youth (U13, U15, U17) leagues which are made up of a handful of Premier and First Division clubs, however not every club has a U23 and/or Youth Division team affiliate.

The Bermuda Football Association falls under CONCACAF, and we currently have a Senior Men’s and Women’s team made up of amateur, semi-professional, and professional players. There are currently more amateur and semi-professional status players that make up the two squads, with only a couple full time professionals included. We also have an U20 Boys and Girls team, with those squads being made up of mainly locally based players, but also comprising of youngsters playing abroad in semi-professional sides, professional academies, and/or university teams. We’ve also just added an U23 team, which I’m confident will help with the development of younger Bermudian players looking to continue their football careers.

What we’re trying to achieve…

Bermuda is a small country with lofty expectations, both socially, economically, and sportingly. The technical director of Somerset Trojans recently stated that Bermuda should be vying for one of the additional CONCACAF qualification spots for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and that now is as good a chance as any to qualify for the sport’s premier competition. While these are high expectations indeed, I’m a firm believer that “you aim for the moon so that if you fall short, you land amongst the stars”, making this a great ultimate goal to have in mind. However, this needs to be a measured and calculated strategy and for the sake of our footballers, I hope that it is. As I mentioned earlier, the majority of our Senior squads are either amateur or semi-professional, with the majority of consistent World Cup countries being made up of full professionals. This doesn’t mean it is impossible however, but I just mean it is equally as important to be realistic so a clear and achievable strategy can be implemented.

The Senior Men’s National Team punched far above their weight in the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup when they qualified for the competition for the first time ever! While we didn’t make it past the group stage, only winning one match, support and belief in the team had never been higher, with every match played thereafter garnering amazing local interest and support. Since then however, we have not qualified for the competition and there have been quite a few underwhelming performances from the team. Conversely, I don’t think that is such a bad thing because I think their lull period in the team can be used as an opportunity for the team to adjust, re-build, and re-focus on what they can and should be achieving.

The football infrastructure in Bermuda is not great, and that’s putting it nicely. The pitches aren’t fantastic, there’s no real elite training facility other than our national stadium complex, and even that is usually reserved for our national teams. There has been a lot of talk about investment for clubs, with many locals citing that the national teams need that investment to reach the the levels they want to compete at. The lack of investment shouldn’t be used as an excuse however, and I think there are other strategies the BFA could initiate to make the future of Bermudian football better for the next generations.

My thoughts…

Everyone in Bermuda has an opinion on how football could be better, and in my opinion no one is right, but also no one is necessarily wrong. My main point of focus would be youth development, and investing in the infrastructures that would be relevant to our national youth teams and club youth teams. Our “golden generation” of national team players currently have done an amazing job, and the squads over the last few years, particularly the 2018 Gold Cup squad, will go down as some of the best Bermuda has produced. Guys like Nahki Wells, Dale Eve, Justin Donawa, and Willie Clemons are fantastic players and will no doubt be part of many future national team squads as long as they’re healthy and fit.

However, I think now is the time to pivot towards a more youthful direction, with any senior players that make up the Men’s National Team being semi-professional or professional players playing abroad. It is my own opinion that there should be no locally playing amateur footballers in the Men’s National Team. While that may sound harsh, and a lot of those guys have semi-professional or professional experience, I just think there is more value in giving those roster spots to younger players playing abroad in universities or academies. The exposure to men’s football on an international stage would not only be great for their individual physical and skill development, but also the chance to showcase their abilities to prospective clubs, which only raises the bar for Bermuda football altogether.

Now I don’t say this because the BFA and clubs aren’t doing it, I fully believe they are, and they’ve done a great job! As mentioned above the BFA has only just set up an U23 program, which is going to be extremely beneficial for our young players. Clubs are also very committed to developing young players, and take it upon themselves to seek out coaching qualifications to perfect their crafts. While these are all great initiatives, it is also something that should be standard, and then perfected and built upon. I do believe we are moving in the right direction, but I think we can still do better.

Additionally, through my experience as an agent working primarily in the non-league set up in England (National League down to Step 6), I believe there are lots of young Bermudians playing locally that can excel at Steps 6 through 3. From there, I fully believe with the correct work ethic and desire, they can compete in National League North and South, of which are semi-professional clubs. Now, not everyone has the ability to just pick up their lives and start playing in England, from both a financial perspective and personally. Not everyone wants to leave their families to go and chase their dreams, which is something I completely understand and would never pressure anyone to do. However, if a player is serious about making it as a professional, or at least seeing how far their career can go, then applying themselves in the non-league system is a much better starting point that trying to go fully professional by playing locally in Bermuda.

I sincerely hope that we can qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, that would be an unbelievable experience for every Bermudian. While that should be the ultimate goal and it isn’t until 2025/26 that it would materialize, there are few other objectives we should look to achieve that are just as important for our development as a footballing country. Qualifying for the 2023 and 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cups would be a great starting point, and then build on that subsequent success.

Overall, I do like the direction the BFA is heading in, and I do appreciate and admire the commitment to being professional from not only the BFA, but from our local clubs and national team players. Everyone wants to achieve the same thing, but my point is that maybe a youthful focus could impact football in Bermuda in a more holistic manner, and better ourselves for the future.

If anyone from the Bermuda Football Association or any local Bermuda clubs would like to get together for a discussion, you can shoot me an email at [email protected]. I would love to talk about Bermuda’s football future and how we can work together!

I hope you all enjoyed this one, enjoy your weekends!

Peace,

Jason